


Stable Mornings

by orphan_account



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-04
Updated: 2017-06-04
Packaged: 2018-11-08 18:37:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11087577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Coming to terms with feelings isn't always easy.





	Stable Mornings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [toxicfrogg](https://archiveofourown.org/users/toxicfrogg/gifts).



Mucking out was never the most glamorous of jobs. While it showed dedication to her steed, it was a deliberate early rise for Caeldori, wanting to avoid people catching her doing such an unpleasant chore. It was worse when her pegasus Kabuki started to get quite sassy, and would try to knock her over. This had been one of those mornings, and the snout hitting her lower back was seriously testing her patience. The final straw came when the push was extra-hard, and almost knocked her completely off balance.

“That’s enough!” She yowled, turning on her heel and glaring at what she thought would be a horse.  
“What? I only did it once...” Nina pouted, before striking a devious grin.  
“What the hell are you doing out here?! It’s 7am!”  
“I went to come see what you were sneaking out for, plus I was doing a little spying earlier,” There was a smirk on her face, “I’ve not been to sleep yet.”  
“Well, seen as you’re so chipper,” Caeldori mused, picking up a pitchfork and holding it out, “Give me a hand in here.”  
The archer scowled, but reluctantly began to shift and scoop the hay as she was told.

A comfortable silence fell over them as they forked mounds of soiled straw into a wheelbarrow; Nina was focusing on finishing as soon as possible; Caeldori was still recovering from her embarrassment. The sun was pouring in through the open stable doors, beaming onto the other horses and pegasi who were now stirring and whickering as they began to wake up. It seemed a certain pegasus was wide awake, judging by the increasing friskiness behind her deep brown eyes. She leaned forward and slammed her snout against Nina’s back, pushing her into her now startled handler, and giving a cheeky whinny as she leaned down to her feeding trough.

“Oh God, I’m so sorry! She does this sometimes. She’s usually really nice, and she’s just playing, but she can be a right nightmare!” The redhead was blushing intensely, flustered by Kabuki’s bad behaviour. Her hands were around Nina’s waist from the way she caught her, and she’d not yet moved back. The archer rested her hands on the rider’s upper arms, eyes squeezed shut at fear of impact with the ground.  
“I... It’s alright!” She was a little bit dazed, and her cheeks were dusted with an initial tender redness from the contact, “Not your fault she decided to push me.”

Then, suddenly, they made full eye contact. It was in that moment, ruby locked with steel, that they actually realized their situation. It was the pig tailed girl who moved back briskly, trying to regulate her racing heart. She was shaking a little. Touch had never really been her thing. Caeldori’s face was as red as her hair, but she seemed to be recovering quickly from what had happened. Around such a playful animal, she’d gotten used to it. Blessed with being observant, she noted immediately the discomfort on her mucking buddy’s face. It didn’t take a genius to figure out the issue, and she chose not to press it as such.

Instead, she chose to lend her a smile, and offered, “We can brush her down then move on to Avel’s stall? Sophie gets me to clean him out because he behaves far better for me.”  
The white haired girl gave an upwards nod and smiled back, “Sure thing.”   
Being tall, it was easy for the perfectionist to reach up and take two brushes from the grooming hanger in the stall. She offered one to the other girl by holding it from the very edge so they wouldn’t have to brush fingers. It was clearly appreciated, but for some reason, Nina’s heart still skipped a beat. While Caeldori obviously didn’t notice it, the mare seemed to, as she shifted toward the smaller of the girls and bowed her head against her chest. Equine contact was far preferable to human, and she ran a hand down the side of her neck.

“Isn’t she being nice for once?” Caeldori mused teasingly, “I think she might be a little bit worried about you.”  
“She doesn’t need to worry, I’m fine.”  
“You do seem a little stressed if I’m honest with you.”  
“I think its lack of sleep catching up with me,” She tried to play it off, not wanting people prying into her mind. This was such a different feeling for her, and it just felt stupid.  
“If you need to sit down or anything, then let me know. Don’t push yourself.”  
That sense of care directed at her made her chest palpitate again, and she just nodded, starting to run the brush down Kabuki’s white pelt. The whole time they were grooming, the sky knight kept a worry filled watch.

When they finished up, they scattered more fresh hay over the wood floor of the stall and left carefully, making sure all three locks were done on the gate. The pegasus trotted to hang her head out of the stall window and watched them leave after getting a soft pet. They started on towards Avel, and as they traipsed over the hard oak floorboards, Nina felt that sinking feeling come back to her chest. Of course, she knew why this was happening. She’d not even been spying this morning, or any of the other mornings she used it as an excuse to ‘bump into’ the redhead when she was done with the horses. No, she’d been taking her chances to see her.

At first, she contemplated that it might have just been the warmth of a close friendship that smouldered in her heart. She’d hardly known such a thing in her self induced solitude, so it was a reasonable manufactured excuse. However, things got more trying when she felt that pining ache in her bones, when her mind couldn’t part from such particular intricacies that hung around like ghosts in the back of her head. The way her fringe parting often tickled her nose, the way she carried herself fluently on the pegasus like she and it were merged as one, the way she stepped with a natural saunter, but held her shoulders taut. And these things played over and over in her head.

This wasn’t a close attachment, these were romantic feelings. Something about them felt so raw and painful that she wished she could bury them in the ground. First she was inept at talking to boys, and now she was feeling awkward around the main girl she spent her time with, all because her heart decided that was who she was going to fall for. She’d slam her fist through a wall with frustration if they weren’t surrounded by horses, and it wouldn’t cause a scene.

By the time they entered Avel’s large stall, it was evident that Nina was clearly bothered by something far more than she’d let on. She wore a face like thunder, and the horse’s unhappy snort singled that out. Of course, that caught the attention of her accomplice, who frowned at the sight.  
“Come on you, back off,” Caeldori called to the horse, slipping her fingers into the halter and pulling softly to move him out the way. Taking the lead line set up in the box, she clipped it to him so she could get him still in one place, by his food.  
“Are you alright?” She spoke softly, moving to stand near the other girl, “I know you said you were fine, but... You’re starting to look really upset.” With a fluid, careful movement, she brushed her fingers reassuringly over Nina’s exposed wrist and felt her shiver, but not pull back.  
“I’ll live, Cael’” She retorted, but her voice held a more distinctive, exhausted tone.  
“I recognise that look, you know.”  
“Why am I not surprised...?”

Things fell into a brief silence, this time fairly uncomfortable. While they both considered what the right thing to say was, and how to say it, they took a side each of Avel and began running brushes along his coarse coat. He was staying good and quiet, which was a relief.  
Eventually, it was the pegasus rider who spoke again, “You don’t have to hide it, you know.”  
“Hide what?” The tendency towards hyper-defensiveness sparked in Nina’s tone.  
“You know what I mean.” Heaving a suddenly shaky sigh, Caeldori elaborated, “You’re not the only one feeling this way.”  
Their gazes interlocked over chestnut fur, and both regarded the blushes over their cheeks. Things were never easy to say.  
“For who?” The outlaw refused to risk getting her hopes up.  
Suddenly put on mute, throat clutched tight in reservation, all the redhead could do was nod towards the girl opposite.  
“Me?”  
“Yes.”

Silence brought itself to life again as their minds worked everything out. Neither wanted to jump the gun, embarrass themselves, or embarrass each other. They acted in excessive caution and eyed one another anxiously. They finished grooming and somewhat rushed the mucking out – fortunately, there wasn’t much to clean up anyway. Unclipping the stallion from his halter, they left him be to enjoy his clean box, and made their way towards the stable entrance.

It was Nina who got the guts to act on the events, now they were in a less cramped space. Her fingers, not exactly voluntarily, closed around Caeldori’s wrist, causing her movements to seize, and her head to spin with a confused expression on her face.  
“M-Maybe it’s a bit brash, but...” Wincing a little, the pig tailed girl tried to find the words, “Maybe we could give things a go?”  
Giggling softly, cheeks flushed, she nodded, “I’d love to.”


End file.
